UPDATED: Car Drives Through Parking Lot, Rolls Over in Beginning Years' Playground

An elderly woman and her daughter sustained minor injuries after she drove her motor vehicle through the Post Office parking lot and turned it over into the Beginning Years' Child Development Center playground Monday afternoon, according to Medfield Police. No children were at the playground during the accident.

Medfield Chief of Police, Robert Meaney Jr. said the operator of the 1998 blue Jaguar was in her late 70s to early 80s and accelerated 140 feet through the Post Office parking lot, near the mailboxes, to the sidewalk of 50 North St., turning over and landing in the playground of Beginning Years. 

"The woman was just dropping off letters at the mailbox and from there we end up over [at the playground]," said Meaney. "We’ve got some witness statements that say the car accelerated."

Meaney suspects it was operator error and Medfield police officer Michelle Bento will lead the investigation. 

"Depending upon what occurs here, officer [Michelle] Bento, who is doing the investigation, will probably result in some sort of motor vehicle charge most likely," Meaney said. "That is a decision officer Bento will make."

The investigation will not be a matter of what happened but will focus on whether there was a vehicle malfunction, which appears unlikely, according to Meaney.

"There’s no question about what happened," Meaney said. "It’s pretty obvious. So we don’t have to try and figure out whether there were defects in the road or did something come out into the road that would make the person do this. The car accelerated." 

The woman and her daughter, who was the passenger, were taken to the hospital for precautionary reasons, according to Meaney. 

"They were both very slightly injured," said Meaney. "They both went [to the hospital] on backboards. We made the assumption that there was some sort of injury to the cervical spine. I’m not sure what hospital they went to."

Meaney did not know the age of the woman's daughter. 

The call came into the station around 3:10 p.m., and Medfield volunteer firefighter Paul Loiacono was thankful for the rainy day and no serious injuries being sustained to the women in the vehicle and the children at the center.

"Thank God it wasn't a sunny day and the kids were out," said Loiacono.

Said Meaney: "No children were hurt and that's the good news. This is a very fortunate circumstance."

Assured Collision lifted the vehicle from the playground and transported it across the street into the Montrose School's parking lot, where Medfield Police and Massachusetts State Troopers were investigating the vehicle further.

"State Police officer came to check the mechanical function of the car," Meaney said. "Officer Bento will be handling the investigation with little input from me."

The amount of property damage will be determined by Fire Chief William Kingsbury.